Tag Archives: biz spouse

No one is looking right? You have an expense account or per diem money burning a hole in your dress pants pocket. You wife (boyfriend, mother, significant other, know it all sister-in-law, fill in blank________) isn’t around to “remind” you how you should be eating healthier and ‘don’t forget that New Year’s Resolution’ and “‘how’s your cholesterol numbers lining up with that fried butter appetizer huh?”

You’ve been enjoying that anonymity for a while now. But let’s face it. Eventually you are going to have to face the music and your doctor and go home. So maybe it’s time that you took stock of your daily food choices while you are on the road. ‘Knowledge is power’ is one of my favorite sayings. If we know how un-nutritious something is for us and we choose to eat it anyway, well at least we have made a choice.

It is no small task to maintain your healthy self while traveling. For the spouse of the business person, or as I like to say, “Biz Spouse” it’s almost like being on vacation. We all know what vacations do to our “eat healthy” resolve. With a new restaurant on every corner and regional tastes galore, you can easily fall into bad habits that last months instead of a week.

So the best defense is offense and that is how to form a plan. Before you leave your actual home, bring some of your favorite simple recipes with you. Bring the pan or utensil that allows that to happen. Do you have a Magic Bullet or Ninja blender that you think will be too much trouble to take along? Do you like to drink a smoothie for breakfast at home? Then you will on the road also. You will be glad that you brought it with you. Also be strategic about eating out. Set some parameters. Make salad, soup and veggies the main event during the week and leave the restaurant exploring for weekends. Here is a link to an interesting article that provides some knowledge for that power. Keep it real but have some fun!

Biz spouses come in all sizes and descriptions. Actually a biz spouse doesn’t have to be a spouse at all, not in the sense of a marital partner. Take, Adeleen for example. I met her in the laundry room the other day. She is staying in the hotel with her sister. Sister travels around the heartland to train franchisee employees on the operation of some of their equipment. So Adeleen goes along for the ride and the company. She does their laundry and takes care of the administrative end of their travels. Sister takes the company car and leaves Adeleen to her own devices. It’s a good arrangement and they share lots of adventures.

Another biz spouse is my very macho friend whose name I won’t mention. He travels around the country from the north to the south with his wife. She has a unique position of doing short term admin jobs for a large utility company. They have grown children in Florida and Pennsylvania so it has worked well for them to see their grandchildren. Mr. Biz Spouse has a glass of wine ready for his wife when she comes in from her labors, they talk about their day. He does a lot of writing and reading and is quite a character himself. He stays busy meeting new people and finding ways to be a blessing to those “never a stranger” folks he meets.

What is YOUR biz spouse story? Please share and I will include yours in a future blog.

There are many occupations that travel around the country. Nurses have taken advantage of this way of life for many years. Often in these cases, it is the husband who is the biz spouse. I actually know of two couples who have done this routinely. One couple travels full time in a travel trailer and the other couple does the “snow bird” nursing. They travel to Florida in the winter where the need is greater due to the migration of so many to to the south and warmer climates. They go home then to Minnesota in the summer, where the need is again greater there. It’s a great way to see the country. Life is short so see what you can BEFORE you retire. Here is a website that answers many of the questions you may have about contract nursing opportunities.

I couldn’t believe my eyes….a female in the fitness room. Since our hotel is made up of 95% men, it is rare to even see a female and in the six weeks I’ve been here, I’ve never seen one working out. I was so elated to have found a potential friend. I was like a third grade girl on the playground, spotting a may be pal and hoping to say the right words to extend a greeting.
It seems that Edith is here for a couple weeks to visit Archie who is working at the local Chrysler plant. I think many of the guys staying in this hotel work there too. I see a lot of hard hats, industrial clothing and greasy lunch boxes. Her husband is here to do training. She didn’t say what kind of training but likely something about quality control and ‘don’t put out lemons’ so Chrysler’s stock will go up. I doubt that her last name is Bunker but I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to look like a stalker in my exuberance over meeting a fellow biz wife. I hope to run into her again. I’ve got my tennis shoes on and guess where I’m headed?